Glory is like a dream
Years later, as Shangguan Yuqi packed her simple belongings, preparing to leave the grand mansion of the Shangguan family to practice swordsmanship in the remote and desolate family cemetery, she finally saw the golden embroidered scissors, specially made for Yanxiu's wedding but never actually used, hidden at the bottom of the box. The golden dragon coiled on them still had its mane bristling and was majestic, but with the passage of time, its original gleam had faded to a worn brownish-gold.
By then, much had changed. A few days earlier, Jianzhang had witnessed another grand funeral, so solemn that the entire city was draped in mourning: the ceremony of Yanxiu's coffin being placed in the Wuyang Mausoleum. Furthermore, the city was in turmoil, with most aristocratic families already preparing to migrate south. Although the northern barbarian cavalry had just been defeated, internal strife was already evident. The Hengzhou army on the upper reaches of the Yangtze openly opposed the court, and various factions within the court began vying for the position of Grand Secretary, vacated by Shangguan Jin. Jianzhang began to prepare for war, requiring everyone entering the city to be searched and verified—a practice never seen even when the barbarian cavalry were eyeing the river.
She stroked the golden scissors, feeling as if she had returned to another world.
A heavy, foggy sense of bewilderment settled over her heart, making everything seem like looking at flowers through a mist. She couldn't see the current situation clearly, nor could she see the overlapping and complicated events of the past.
What she couldn't understand was why she hadn't checked the whereabouts of the other pair of scissors five years ago.
The day after Yanxiu's wedding, she became the de facto Miss Shangguan, and all matters of the clan required her approval. Given her meticulous and discerning nature, how could the loss of that pair of scissors have become an unsolved mystery, while she herself had been hiding the other pair in her room for so many years?
Even the most valuable pair of scissors has a price, but the practice of thievery within the family should not be allowed to start a new trend. Therefore, she should have investigated further after Yanxiu left.
Faintly, vaguely, a glimmer of golden light finally appeared somewhere in her memory.
She remembered; she had seen the lost pair of embroidery scissors before.
Moreover, not just once.
The first time, to be precise, was when I saw the sliver of brilliance revealed by those embroidery scissors.
That was when she saw Yanxiu off as she was about to get into the sedan chair.
Wearing a black and red embroidered phoenix-embroidered empress's robe, Yanxiu had a crown with many pearls hanging down in front of her, making her face appear distant and indistinct.
As she boarded the sedan chair, she placed one hand on Yuqi's shoulder and used the other to lift the hem of her skirt. In that instant, Yuqi clearly saw a glint of gold pierce her vision.
The sharp light came from the sleeve that Yanxiu had inadvertently lifted earlier.
She hesitated for a moment, unsure, but still remembered the golden phoenix scissors that had gone missing from her dowry chest the night before.
Yanxiu noticed her gaze, subtly pulled down the sleeves of her gold-embroidered phoenix-tail silk robe, and softly urged, "Let's go."
She always obeyed Yanxiu, so once Yanxiu spoke, she stopped thinking about it and swallowed her doubts. She followed Yanxiu into the palace in her sedan chair and never mentioned the matter again.
Yanxiu sat silently in the dragon and phoenix sedan chair, unlike her usual lively and talkative self. Perhaps it was because the palace maids were attending to her, or perhaps it was simply against etiquette for a bride to talk too much before her wedding.
In short, even if she wanted to ask, she wouldn't have had the chance.
The wedding of the emperor and empress was filled with elaborate rituals. She accompanied Yanxiu through a day of ceremonies, and when she returned home, she was exhausted and fell asleep immediately.
Strangely, despite being very tired, she didn't sleep well that night and kept having dreams.
Several of my dreams were related to Yanxiu.
First, she seemed to dream that Yanxiu suddenly disappeared during the investiture ceremony, and a bunch of people from the palace rushed to the Shangguan family to demand her return. As the current head of the family, she could only shout herself hoarse and keep explaining, trying to prove that Yanxiu had not returned home.
Then, as if she had heard from someone that Yanxiu had been deposed and banished to the Cold Palace, she panicked and immediately wanted to change her clothes and go to the palace to confess her crimes. She also hurriedly asked someone to ask her thirteenth uncle to pull strings.
Finally, it seemed to be good news: Yanxiu had not disappeared after all, but was still serving as Empress and had given birth to a son, who would soon be named Crown Prince. She herself was now the elder sister of the future Crown Prince, and the Shangguan family's power and prestige in court would undoubtedly continue to grow stronger.
She had a chaotic and unsettling night, and when she woke up, she was in a daze, feeling as if all her strength had been drained, and she had completely forgotten about the lost golden scissors.
She herself did not understand why, when Yanxiu's wedding was supposed to be an extremely glorious event for the Shangguan family and even the entire Dahuan Dynasty, she, as Yanxiu's closest person and the head of the Shangguan family, was unable to eat or sleep, and was plagued by nightmares and happy dreams.
Later, after she learned swordsmanship, she realized that with her talent for swordsmanship, she must have sensed some clues leading to a chaotic and unknowable future.
Ultimately, the source of all these impressions is related to the person sitting on the dragon throne.
Emperor Wu, Sima Yan, had just ascended the throne at that time. He was nominally her uncle-in-law. When he accompanied Yan Xiu in bowing, she did not dare to look up too much.
But with just a quick glance, she could tell that although the man was fairly robust, his face was pale from excessive indulgence in wine and women, and his eyes occasionally flashed with arrogance and ferocity, unlike the weakness of a typical debauched person.
She glanced at Sima Yan and immediately felt a chill run through her body. She quickly tried to dispel the many unpleasant feelings she had towards her husband, Yanxiu.
Not all the men of the Shangguan family were paragons of virtue and integrity; some were even spoiled brats, like her biological father. But ultimately, their nature wasn't necessarily that bad. Under the pressure of bringing glory to their family, they might not be outstanding enough or dare to take responsibility, but deep down they were still imbued with a kind of useless, cowardly kindness, influenced by the teachings of Confucian scholars.
Therefore, she disliked Sima Yan from the first moment she saw him. This man seemed to possess the nature of a wolf, yet he was also stubborn and lacked self-awareness, and was bound to be the cause of disaster.
She deliberately suppressed her dislike for Sima Yan and her vague worries about Yanxiu's future as she went through the entire investiture ceremony. Therefore, she felt exhausted, even more so than when preparing Yanxiu's wedding gifts and dowry.
She finally understood why Yanxiu's marriage had never been mentioned at home before. Even when it was mentioned, it was in a businesslike tone, only stating what needed to be done without any emotion.
The only person who ever showed any emotion about this was the high-ranking and powerful thirteenth uncle, Shangguan Jin.
The emotions he expressed in his study at that time were regret and helplessness.
Upon hearing this, A Qiu felt she couldn't bear to listen any longer. She couldn't help but ask, "Did Sima Yan ever lay a hand on Yan Xiu?"
She couldn't imagine what fate awaited a woman like Yanxiu, who knew no martial arts, if she fell into the deep palace and was in Sima Yan's hands. Given Yanxiu's temperament, she would certainly refuse to comply, and Sima Yan was hardly a reasonable and understanding person.
Shangguan Yuqi shook her head and said with a wry smile, "That's what's unexpected. My uncle has always been tyrannical. If anyone in the palace disobeys him in the slightest, he will beat or kill them in the blink of an eye. However, he doesn't seem to have made things difficult for my aunt."
She was granted permission again to enter the palace to visit Yanxiu, but it was three months later.
Previously, she had learned about Yanxiu's situation from her thirteenth uncle. In truth, even her thirteenth uncle didn't see Yanxiu often, given the distinction between the inner and outer courts. The Shangguan family was open-minded, with no hierarchy between uncle and nephew, allowing for long, pleasant conversations. However, once inside the palace, even if they had the opportunity to meet, they had to adhere to etiquette and not overstep boundaries. Therefore, even if Yanxiu had any complaints, she couldn't easily confide in Shangguan Jin, and Yanxiu wasn't one to complain.
The thirteenth uncle only said that everything seemed to be going smoothly, but the day after the wedding, Sima Yan issued an edict to confer titles upon three noble ladies. Furthermore, apart from the wedding night, Sima Yan had not visited the Empress's Qiwu Palace again. This had been the case for the past three months.
The usually decisive, elegant, and refined Thirteenth Uncle hesitated repeatedly before finally speaking, "We have long known His Majesty's temperament. Perhaps the way Yanxiu treats him is the best course of action." After much deliberation, he added, "Now that I am in the court, His Majesty will not dare to make things difficult for Yanxiu, no matter what. However, marriage is a lifelong commitment, and avoidance is not an option. If you can persuade her, please try!"
Thirteenth Uncle was a man who never married, so he rarely commented on the way his juniors lived as husband and wife. Even regarding the matter of her father and her birth mother, Thirteenth Uncle never criticized it much, only saying that everyone has their own destiny. But now he made an exception and mentioned Yanxiu, probably because he was worried that if he were to retire from power one day, Yanxiu's situation in the palace would become even more difficult.
However, as a male elder, he couldn't say these words to Yanxiu, so he asked Yuqi, who was also a daughter and close to Yanxiu, to convey the message.
However, Yuqi at that time probably didn't understand much either. With anticipation and the hope of seeing her aunt again, along with a few words she only vaguely understood, she entered the palace.
Her first impression upon entering the palace was how vast Qiwu Palace was, and how immense its library was—probably no fewer than ten thousand volumes, a collection that could not have been gathered overnight. Everywhere she looked were rows of bookshelves, reaching all the way to the ceiling. She thought of how Yanxiu had always enjoyed reading and practicing calligraphy at home; with so many ancient and modern classics and calligraphic works by famous masters, she must have been completely absorbed in them, perhaps even spending her days lost in their beauty.
Furthermore, what impressed her most was the inscription on the plaque above Qiwu Palace. The plaque was clearly a new work, with the two characters "Qiwu" written in a flowing, flamboyant style. Although Yuqi herself wasn't a master calligrapher, she had some knowledge of calligraphy from Yanxiu, the foremost calligrapher of the Southern Dynasties, whom she had often accompanied. She knew the calligraphy wasn't particularly good, but she could tell that the person who wrote it must have been in a relaxed, open-minded, and extremely good mood at the time. However, the strokes carried an air of arrogance, suggesting that the person wasn't someone easy to get along with.
This insight, however, stemmed from her family's education. The Shangguan family also possessed pavilions, terraces, halls, and corridors, but the inscriptions there were required to be moderate and balanced, neither forceful nor overbearing, allowing for a lingering sense of meaning beyond the appreciation of the landscape and courtyards—like a close friend, whose unspoken understanding would be readily apparent. They would never be so blatantly flamboyant and unrestrained. —But throughout the world, those who could act so brazenly within the imperial palace were easily identified.
Therefore, upon first seeing Yanxiu, she couldn't help but ask why the plaque in front of Qiwu Palace wasn't changed.
If this plaque were hung in the Shangguan family's home, I'm afraid Uncle Thirteen would have it taken down as soon as he saw it. This is because seeing these words every day does not cultivate one's mind and temperament; on the contrary, it can cause one to feel restless and irritable.
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